Travel Insurance Policy Exclusions
 

Can anyone tell me if all (or most) Travel insurance policies exclude lump sum payments for death or injury whilst riding a motorbike? I don't want to keep shopping around only to find no policy will fully cover you. Also does anyone have any recommendations for companies we could try? We are travelling all over Europe, Iran, Pakistan so it will need to be pretty comprehenisive. I am a UK citizen and my girlfriend is Australian Citizen. Thanks.

You should be able to find a policy that will cover you for motorcycling, but you might have to shop around a bit. From memory I think we found only three companies prepared to cover us and eventually went for 'worldwide' insurance who specialise in insuring students on gap years. Having just looked on their site www.worldwideinsure.com, I see that they now exclude motorcycling, but they might be able to provide a solution if you speak with them. You could also try H-C Travel www.hctravel.com - they're bike tour specialists and might be able to suggest a suitable policy. It's possible that the RAC might also be able to offer you something if you contact them (try their carnet department).

Most insurers will only cover you if you're wearing a helmet, your bike is road legal and it complies with local laws. One thing they probably won't cover is repatriation of your bike. When my girlfriend, Lisa, fractured her ankle in Laos, the insurers had no problem paying for her treatment and repatriation, but we had to cover the cost of shipping the bikes back from Bangkok. We also had a small battle to get them to pay for me flying back, but they coughed up in the end.

Without teaching you to suck eggs, it's worth making sure they are absolutely clear what you are doing, so worth putting it all in writing so that they can't dispute it if you're unlucky enough to come to harm.

I know that some people don't believe it's worth paying for insurance, but I think it's pretty much essential. The total cost for Lisa's treatment and repatriation was about £5000, so unless you're loaded, insurance is well worth the money.

If you have any more questions, drop me an email.

Harvey





------------------
no pipe, no slippers
www.chasingthesun.org

Go to World Nomads insurance www.worldnomads.com (i think). They sell insurance only online and by cutting down their costs in this manner also are very cheap. And they cover motorcycle accidents.
Sean

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for the links and information. I will check them out over the weekend and see what I can find out. Harvey - You are right in what you say about it being worthwhile especially if things do go wrong. We were at the talk you done at the 2003 HU meeting and remember you talking about Lisa's accident and was probably one of the reasons that we have given insurance etc some serious consideration. I notice from some of your other posts that you spent some time in India? Will you be going back there anytime this year or are you UK based now? We hope to be there around November time so may need to ask some questions if that's ok? I'll also checkout your website to get some tips etc.

Seanh - Thanks for the nomads reccommendation. I have just had a quick look at the site and the prices seem pretty good and the fact that we can get it for UK and Aus citizens makes things easier!

Looks like a weekend of research will be on the cards, especially given the fact that its snowing outside!
Regards
garry

We use Trailfinders single trip insurance - they cover for motorcycles if you ask (it is excluded in standard cover). Premium is +50%. Behind the policy is Campbell Irvine, who are adventure travel insurance specialists.

I just noticed world nomads will only cover UK residents if their trip includes Australia or NZ. Seems a bit weird?
Matt